Composition studies is a plausible choice for a "potentially liberating influence" for psychology, because it offers a useful place from which to think about and critique the writing practices of the psychology discipline. One area in which psychology can learn from composition is audience. Writing guides for psychologists tend to speak…

By teaching about and considering the elements of visual design, communication can be effected and the needs of the reader/user more effectively met. As anecdotal interaction with children indicates, information seems to be communicated more effectively when the rhetor incorporates visual elements. To increase the ability of the reader to…

Poster sessions at professional meetings have become popular in recent years. Properly prepared poster presentations not only provide an excellent format for communicating innovative ideas or research results, but also allow for individual communication between the presenter(s) and interested individuals. Furthermore, poster session programs allow…

Argues that, to break out of the empty rhetoric characteristic of most student writing, students and teachers must break the parent-child rhetorical pattern, in which parents and teachers assume the role of nonlisteners. (JAD)

This paper argues that western instructors of public speaking courses, along with those in the forensics community, can benefit from the insights offered by the eastern tradition. Examining the Indian religious text, the "Bhagavad Gita," reveals insights that can change the way message construction, audience empathy, and speaker…

The popular romance novel overlaps other genres in that it shares characteristics of mysteries, thrillers, erotica, adventure, etc.; however, it can be differentiated from those genres by the fact that the central story is not the mystery or adventure but rather the romance between the hero and heroine. The Romance Writers of America organization…

Argues that the relationship between writer and reader (or audience) must be reimagined in writing theory so as to recognize that neither is knowable or static. Suggests that Thomas Kent's theory of paralogic hermeneutics could help teachers advance a theory of audience that would act as a bridge between actual writing and theories of language.…

Outlines the internal usability review, a systematic examination of documentation to identify basic usability issues and solve problems. Discusses typical user problems and explains the review steps that eliminate documentation problems before they become problems for the customer. (SR)

Reprints the inaugural address of the 1986 president of the National Council of Teachers of English. Examines issues in English instruction such as emphasizing facts over reasoning; developing a sense of audience; mechanics; dialects; and literature instruction. (RS)

States that, to write a truly effective story, a writer must go beyond the basics and look for an "angle" or a hook. Defines an angle as having excellent lead focus and great interest potential, and makes a difference in the number of readers who will take interest. Defines "perspective" as used in journalism. (PA)

Suggests that conflicts in early Soviet literature over reader's identity and function presages many issues in critical understanding of audiences, especially as reflected in the antithetical Frankfurt and Birmingham School positions. Argues that how the mass reader was invoked, defined, and appropriated for institutional needs in the Soviet…

Defines the concept of "audience" as a theoretical concept for writing instructors and readers. Discusses its relationship to the teaching of English. (HB)

Reviews and redefines a concept known as the "rhetorical situation" through an examination of the political discourse of China during the 19th-century Opium Wars. Arrives at three alterations to the "rhetorical situation" concerning the role of the audience, the role of the culture's discourse tradition, and the interactive and…

Argues that, before there can be effective criticism of advertising, people must admit that all respond to it in ways that are both pleasing and skeptical, amused and doubting, open and resisting. Discusses listening to the "other reader" and cultural criticism in the composition class. (PRA)

Both teaching and scholarly writing make sense only if they are part of an ongoing intellectual dialogue. When the audience for creative legal scholarship is small, as it often is, scholarship becomes primarily self-education, with publication a willingness to share ideas. (MSE)